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Polaroid Pictures… a baby quilt

by Decemberbaby

I’ve finally finished this quilt that I’ve been working on for two months. I’m thrilled with how it turned out, but oy, what a headache it was to make. It just occurred to me that the baby whose quilt this is might not understand why the pictures are surrounded by a white border that’s just a tad thicker on the bottom… do kids even know what a Polaroid picture is these days?

Do you see why it gave me a headache? No? Well, with the exception of two pictures, all of the polaroids are sewn in as part of the quilt – not added on top. Have a closer look:

All the random angles made the whole thing impossible to plan – the placement of the seams was completely improvised. I’m mostly pleased with how it turned out, though.

I chose images that would appeal to both the baby and his parents (his dad is a longtime friend and former roommate of Mr. December.) For the child, vehicles and animals and storybook characters. For the parents, Yoda and Chewbacca, a tie fighter, and a dragon. Oh, and a tent – a nod to the extensive canoe trips we used to take together.

I personally love the dinosaurs, both of which are hamming it up for the camera. My favourite, though, is the hippo.

I’m especially in love with the quilt back. It’s one of those things born of necessity (I didn’t have quite enough blue minky) that turns out really, really cool. I’m thinking I should use this design as a quilt front next time.

See? It’s a giant Polaroid! Do you like it as much as I do?

The back view also gives you a good view of the free-motion quilting I did. I quilted with primary-coloured variegated thread to add some colour and pop to the solid grey. I also chose a bright primary-striped fabric for the binding:

Yup, there’s the binding, the free-motion quilting, Chewbacca, and – yes! – one of my snazzy new labels!

It won’t be hard to say goodbye to this quilt. As much as I love it, it gave me some real grief. It’s a very good thing it’s destined for a good friend of ours; it makes all the effort and frustration feel worthwhile.

4 Responses to “Polaroid Pictures… a baby quilt”

I am sure you will be the upcoming recipient of a “most awesome friend” award! The concept and production look fantastic, and I love how you have incorporated things meaningful to everyone in the family.